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Book Review
Dec. 13th, 2021 03:29 pmOrfeo
by Richard Powers
Composer Peter Els has taken up amateur microbiology in his twilight years, as both a revisiting of his early interest in chemistry and an attempt to find musical material. However, it is the second decade of the 21st century and his tinkering catches the attention of the authorities. when his home is raided, Peter panics and goes on the lam. As he drives across the country, visiting people and places that have been the most meaningful for him, he also remembers his life and the music that shaped it. Like Orpheus, Peter takes a risky journey to reclaim what he values most.
I enjoyed this book immensely, much more so than I thought I would. The characters are flawed yet mostly likeable, especially Peter. Powers' prose is great, and becomes sublime when he is describing music. In fact, it is the role of music that lifts this novel from what could be an overly-indulgent, pretentious portrait of an aging artist reviewing his life into something beautiful. In Orfeo, music is the great manipulator of time, a vehicle for memory, aspiration, and transcendence, a way to both capture the past and project the future.
by Richard Powers
Composer Peter Els has taken up amateur microbiology in his twilight years, as both a revisiting of his early interest in chemistry and an attempt to find musical material. However, it is the second decade of the 21st century and his tinkering catches the attention of the authorities. when his home is raided, Peter panics and goes on the lam. As he drives across the country, visiting people and places that have been the most meaningful for him, he also remembers his life and the music that shaped it. Like Orpheus, Peter takes a risky journey to reclaim what he values most.
I enjoyed this book immensely, much more so than I thought I would. The characters are flawed yet mostly likeable, especially Peter. Powers' prose is great, and becomes sublime when he is describing music. In fact, it is the role of music that lifts this novel from what could be an overly-indulgent, pretentious portrait of an aging artist reviewing his life into something beautiful. In Orfeo, music is the great manipulator of time, a vehicle for memory, aspiration, and transcendence, a way to both capture the past and project the future.
